Parent Information
The Oxford School staff have been busy preparing for the upcoming school year.
Read below for up-to-date important information and list of required school supplies.
Head of School’s remarks at opening Faculty meeting:
If Julie Diamond were to walk into this school, (NB: author of Kindergarten: A Teacher, Her Students and A Year; a summer reading book discussed at our opening meeting) virtually every support to a happy and productive school would be found: well lit and equipped classrooms, large common spaces, green treed outdoors, students who want to be here and parents who will support what it takes; by contrast, her situation is a kind of an American educational gothic: crumbling classrooms, shoestring funding, high burnout. It’s the stuff of movies and books: Stand and Deliver, to Sir with Love (for those of you with British experience). Heroic teacher comes into classroom, dreadful conditions, triumphs overall. This is pure Hollywood and real life isn’t like that. But fortunately, and I hope you’ll agree, neither is her book.
As you know, the school has almost doubled enrollment since closing last March, and in that respect has been the beneficiary from doubt and concern in the public system. Yet that is not the all of it, not by a long shot: the way you stepped up as a professional faculty during the shut down is the reason The Oxford School retained more students as a percentage than the CAIS (Canadian Accredited Independent Schools cais.ca) national average along with a whopping 61 new students.
As many students as the school has admitted, we’re now turning some away, even in grades where there is space. I spoke with one mother last week who has a child applying who was looking for a change. Her son has Autism, ADHD, and OCD, and requires an EA. I could hear the tremor in her voice and had to tell her that we’re simply unable to provide the level of support her son needs. The alternative she told me is a classroom of 29 to 34, and she was advised to send him back in school in November.
Tough stuff.
About me there’s little to tell. I am happily married with two university aged sons. They were fortunate enough to attend independent schools, mostly through my career. Every year in September I’d tell them, “This is the most important year in school yet!”
And every year they’d tell, me “Dad, that’s what you told us last year”.
And we were both right.
I said there are two habits I want you to cultivate: get done today what you could do tomorrow, and be the kind of boys who, when you ding the neighbour’s car playing road hockey, you tell your mother and I first. When this inevitably happened, I wasn’t quite prepared for “Dad, I took a wicked slapper and smashed Mr. Jenkins back window to smithereens!
I will tell you that being a parent has made me a better teacher and principal, but being a principal has not made me a better parent: so many teacher/parent conferences, sitting sheepishly across the desk, sometimes with teachers were once my students.
My own school career was one of slapstick and chicanery: in kindergarten our teacher, Miss Daniels, would ask, “children, would anyone like to come sit on my lap and sing ‘You are my Sunshine’? I would always volunteer and in a mock crooning voice belt it out. Not only did this win me the uncritical admiration of Miss Daniels, I was given a solid half hour to play by the train set! A win-win proposition.
Of course, as Julia Diamond tells us, Kindergarten must give way to grade One and the new year brought a new teacher in Mr. Hunter (the name should have given me a clue), an an ex–Israeli intelligence officer recently arrived to Canada and the teaching profession. When I asked if I could sit on Mr. Hunter’s lap and sing ‘You are my Sunshine’, he incredulously uttered something in Hebrew, that of course no one understood, but then again you didn’t have to.
By grade Two we were sorted into reading groups: “Goldfish”, “Lake Trout” and “Catfish”. You didn’t need to be Karl Marx to see that those of us relegated to the bottom feeding catfish were not ticketed for careers in arbitrage or neurosurgery. So we tried to express ourselves in other ways: misbehaving, maybe art, being best at recess games.
So here we all are, ready to start the year in our own school. Since the topic of our Professional Development will be mathematics, I wanted to leave you with some wise words from a mathematician friend of mine about keeping a sense of perspective in our day to day work:
“Not everything is the coefficient of one”.
You don’t need to understand the math behind this to see that it’s a metaphor: very often, and this is particularly true of children, and sometimes us, we lose sight of what’s important and become upset or stressed about what are really just bumps of the normal day. These come and go, soon forgotten even as we are acutely aware of their particular force in the moment.
Something to keep in mind as we start our new year at The Oxford School.
Adam de Pencier
Head of School
Important Information
PICK UP PROCEDURE
Lockers/Cubbies for Early Years, JK, SK
Each child will be assigned their own locker outside (Cubbies inside) of their classroom.
There will be room to leave coats, indoor & outdoor shoes, P.E. kit, backpacks and lunch boxes.
Before/After School
Due to Covid-19 restrictions a maximum of 15 children will be allowed per day for our Before & After School Program. A schedule will be sent home before the start of the month to sign up your children. School accommodations may be available on the day by calling the school ahead of time to check for availability. Please drop and collect your children at the South Playground Entrance Door. The program will be held in the Wild Camp area. This is so staff can closely monitor the doors, receive and dismiss your children in a safe and appropriate manner.
Children are required to be registered beforehand (fill out an application for here). Even if you have used the service before please complete a new application form, to ensure the school has up to date details.
Before School Care: Children are able to be dropped off between 7:15am and 8:30am. Parents/guardians are required to sign their children into the program. There will be no breakfast options/snacks available at this time. The cost is $6 per day per child.
After School Care: The after school program begins at 3:45pm. There will be no snack options available at this time. All children must be collected by 5pm. Staff will sign out the children as they are collected. The cost is $6 per day per child.
Parents will be invoiced at the end of each month for the services they have used.
Uniform
Our uniform guidelines are available on our school website as well as information on our uniform suppliers.
Due to the delay with our supplier McCarthy Uniforms, students are able to wear either their formal uniform or their spring/summer uniform attire on the 1st day. Afterwards students are able to wear their spring/summer uniform attire until further notice.
Please make sure your child’s items are clearly labelled. Without labels it will be challenging for lost items to be returned to their owner. Labels are available for purchase through our Lovable Labels fundraising link: www.oxfordschool.lovablelabels.ca. Custom designed or pre designed labels are available for purchase.
Provide a pair of black, closed toe and closed heal indoor shoes that can be left in their lockers. Outdoor shoes will be worn during outdoor break times and after school.
Early years students are exempt from uniforms but are required to wear comfortable ready to play/get dirty attire.
An order form will be sent home to give you the opportunity to purchase TOS Spirit Wear (house colours) if you wish to do so for your child. New students will be initiated into their houses in the first week of school, and will remain in this house throughout their attendance at The Oxford School.
Athletic shirts are also available for purchase via the order form. Contactless payments can be made directly to our payment office: payments@theoxfordschool.ca
Physical Education Days
On the day that your child has Physical Education, we ask that they come to school in their Physical Education clothes; Wild t-Shirt, black shorts, athletic socks, athletic shoes. For complete details see our uniform guidelines.
Your child’s teacher will provide parents with their child’s class schedule.
There will be many opportunities for students to participate in PE activities outside so please provide appropriate athletic wear according to weather conditions.
Lunches
Remember to pack adequate lunches/snacks, drinks for your child for two food breaks (balanced day schedule).
The Hot Lunch Program (Early Years to Grade 8) is suspended until further notice.
Children are allowed to bring left overs in microwavable dishes to heat up at school.
Milk Program
The Milk Program is currently unavailable at this time.
Planners
Your child will be provided with a planner which will be sent home each day for parents to review. We find it is a valuable exercise for children to document their school related items in their planner as it promotes ownership and responsibility for their learning.
Please continue to ask your children to review these planners daily at home after school.
Planners must be returned to school on a daily basis with your child.
Book Pouch
Your child will (or has been) be provided a book pouch which will stay with them throughout their attendance at The Oxford School.
Book pouches will be used to transport student’s homework, library books and letters from school to home.
Replacement bags are available for purchase, subject to availability.
Class DOJO
Class Dojo is an online communication tool which is a great way to communicate with your child’s classroom and have a bit of a birds eye view of some of our daily tasks and events.
Please look for the note which will be sent home with your child on how to access Class Dojo, including your personal access code.
PARENT VOLUNTEERS
The Wild Community Connection (WCC) is a volunteer group of parents, caregivers and teachers. The WCC serves as a support network for The Oxford School providing community building, fundraising and enrichment for its students. The Wild Community Connection invites all parents to join us for our first introductory meeting on Wednesday, September 23rd at 8pm via Zoom (link to follow).
All volunteers at The Oxford School are required to provide a Police Record Check. Police Record Checks must be completed once every five years, each subsequent year an Offence Declaration form must be completed. If an Offence Declaration lapses, a new Police Record Check will be required. To complete your Police Record Check or Offense Declaration, obtain the appropriate form from TOS administration.
Required School Supplies
Early Years
Lunch/Snacks and spill proof refillable water bottle.
Indoor and Outdoor shoes.
Spare “Just in Case” seasonally appropriate clothes including socks/underwear (labelled).
Sunscreen and hat.
Diapering supplies i.e.: Wipes, Diapers/Pull Ups if necessary.
Comfort Items for nap time: Snuggly blanket and cuddle toy to be left at school. (Other toys are discouraged to be brought to school and will be stored in child’s cubby until end of day. Exceptions during transition period).
Junior and Senior Kindergarten
Lunch/Snacks and spill proof refillable water bottle.
Indoor and Outdoor shoes.
Gym Clothes.
Spare “Just in Case” seasonally appropriate clothes Inc. socks/underwear (labelled).
Sunscreen and hat.
Grade 1 - Grade 3
Lunch/Snacks and spill proof refillable water bottle.
Indoor and Outdoor shoes.
Gym Clothes.
Sunscreen and hat.
Pencil case with: Pencil, Pen, Ruler, Eraser, Glue Stick, Coloured Pencils/Markers.
Mask/Spare Mask
Hand Sanitizer for their desk
Grade 4 – Grade 8
Lunch/Snacks and refillable water bottle.
Indoor and Outdoor shoes.
Gym Clothes.
Sunscreen and hat.
Pencil case with: Pencils, Pens, Coloured Pencil Crayons/Markers, Glue Stick, Ruler, pair of Scissors, Eraser, Scientific Calculator and Math Set Kit (protractor set).
Binders for work (suggest 2 x 1.5”) with subject tabs (no bulky zipped folders).
Mask/Spare Mask
Hand Sanitizer for their desk
* Please refer to the uniform guidelines for all other required clothing items and details.